Glove with interchangeable padding

ABSTRACT

A sports glove comprising a palm side, a dorsal side positioned opposite the palm side, and a plurality of interchangeable protection sections positioned on the dorsal side. Each interchangeable protection section includes a removable attachment engaging the protection section to the dorsal side. This removable attachment can comprise hooks and loops, zippers, adhesives, and snaps. Preferably, each interchangeable protection section includes a width and a length wherein less than half the width and less than half the length is attached to the dorsal side. Alternately, a majority of the width and a majority of the length can be attached to the dorsal side. In another alternate embodiment each interchangeable protection section includes a base wherein the base is removably attached to the dorsal side.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

All patents and publications described or discussed herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in generally to protective gloves. More particularly, this invention relates to protective sports gloves having uniquely attached padding to provide enhanced protection while maintaining flexibility and the ability to arrange the padding of the glove.

In many contact sports, it is essential to intentionally strike the participants of the sport. Depending on the given sport, certain body parts are under greater exposure and stress than others. For example, in sports such as Lacrosse, hockey, and other sports in which a stick type object is an essential part of the game, a participant's hands are exposed to a large amount of contact and as such it is important to protect those hands during the course of play of the sport. It is also important to maintain a high level flexibility in the participant's hands in order to adequately participate in the sport. As such, a protective glove in sports should both protect and retain flexibility.

Various protective sporting gloves have been developed over the years for use in lacrosse, hockey, and other similar contact sports. These gloves are designed protect the user of the glove, or player of the sport, against impacts and blows to their hands during participation in the sporting event. Unfortunately, as the protection provided by these gloves increases, the user of these prior art gloves experiences a reduction in the amount of flexibility he has in his hand due to the configuration of the glove. This reduction in flexibility can substantially reduce the effectiveness and level of play of a participant wearing the glove. Traditionally, however, as the level of flexibility allowed by a protective glove would remain high, the protection provided by that glove would be limited.

There are several areas of the hand that need to maintain an increased level of flexibility and yet still need a high level of protection. These areas include the various joints of the fingers and hand including the knuckles. For example, the knuckle joints of a participant's hand need to maintain as close to the full range of flexibility as possible in order to properly grip the equipment used during the sport, and sometimes the other participants in the sport.

Traditionally, compounding this issue is the very padding located at the knuckle areas. In order to sustain as complete of a range of motion as possible for the fingers of the hand, the padding or protection on the fingers should not substantially restrict the flexibility of the finger. Otherwise, the amount of the rotational range in the fingers of the hand when flexed will be limited due to the increased padding and protective materials in the glove.

For example, as the fingers move from an extend position to a curled position, padding located on the back of the glove above a knuckle will move from being adjacent to one another to create a gap of over ninety degrees. As such, additional protection is needed to fill this gap. However, when the additional protection was added, the additional protection reduced the range of movement of the fingers, especially when attempting to extend the fingers

Most of the prior art has used segmented padding pieces in order to attempt to both protect the hand of the participant and maintain flexibility. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,339, U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,572, U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,242, U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,916, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,720, U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,354, U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,769, U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,057, U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,069, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,844, all disclose various sports gloves having segmented padding sections. Some of these prior art gloves have attempted to specifically protect the knuckles of a participant while maintaining flexibility. However, these prior art attempts have either tried to create overlapping padding, add a piece of soft cloth material to cover the gaps between the padding where the piece spans from one padding section to another or used cloth material folded and placed within the padding joint.

Additionally the prior art gloves have failed to provide a user of a glove with flexibility in the arrangement of the padding. These prior art gloves have the padding fixed in a set location and in a set arrangement upon the glove. As such there is no allowance for a user to arrange the padding of the prior arts gloves as specifically desired to create an appearance or protection scheme.

Additionally, any padding in the prior art gloves are fixed to the glove over the width and length of that padding. As such, the flexibility of a prior art glove is limited due to the constraints of the padding being completely attached over its length.

What is needed then is a sports glove having padding that is attached to the glove to facilitate flexibility in the glove while maintaining a proper level of protection of the hand of a wearer of the glove. Additionally, this needed glove can be arranged to provide the user of a glove options in the placement of the padding on the glove to create a desired protection pattern or to conform the aesthetic look of the glove to a user's desires. A glove containing these features is lacking in the art.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Included herein is a sports glove comprising a palm side, a dorsal side positioned opposite the palm side, and a plurality of protection sections positioned on the dorsal side. Preferably, each protection section is partially attached to the dorsal side and includes a length and a width wherein preferably less than half of the length and less than half of the width is attached to the dorsal side. Additionally, each partially attached protection section can include a base wherein the base includes the partial attachment of the protection section to the dorsal side. As such, use of the sports glove by a wearer partially separates the plurality of partial attachment protection sections from the dorsal side. Alternately described at least a portion of each partially attached protection section is not attached to the dorsal side, or is separated from, the dorsal side of the glove.

Alternately each protection section can include a casing wherein the casing includes a partial attachment of the protection section to the dorsal side. Each partially attached protection section can deflect independent of the adjacent partially attached protection section. The partial attachment of the protection section permits a substantial deflection of each protection section with respect to the dorsal side in order to absorb energy from an impact to the glove and to protect the hand of a wearer.

Also included is a sports glove comprising a palm side, a dorsal side positioned opposite the palm side, and a plurality of interchangeable protection sections positioned on the dorsal side. Each interchangeable protection section includes a removable attachment engaging the protection section to the dorsal side. This removable attachment can comprise hooks and loops, zippers, adhesives, and snaps. Preferably, each interchangeable protection section includes a width and a length wherein less than half the width and less than half the length is attached to the dorsal side. Alternately, a majority of the width and a majority of the length can be attached to the dorsal side. In another alternate embodiment each interchangeable protection section includes a base wherein the base is removably attached to the dorsal side.

A wearer of this sports glove can selectively remove each interchangeable protection section and arrange the protection sections upon the dorsal side as desired. As such, each interchangeable protection section includes a removable securement attaching that interchangeable protection section to the dorsal side. This removable securement can be independent of any attachment of adjacent interchangeable protection sections to the dorsal side. Alternately described, the first and second interchangeable protection sections include first and second positions on the dorsal side wherein the first and second interchangeable protection sections can be positioned in either first or second positions on the dorsal side.

It is therefore a general object of the current invention to provide a protective sports glove.

It is another object of the current invention to provide a sports glove having partially attached protection sections.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports glove having interchangeable protection sections.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a sports glove having padding that is rearrangeable on the sports glove.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sports glove having padding sections where less than a majority of the length and less than a majority of the width of the padding sections are attached to the glove.

And yet another object of the present invention is to provide a sports glove having padding sections that deflect independently of adjacent padding sections.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading of the following description and a review of the attached figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a sports glove made in accordance with the current disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows an example of various padding sections of FIG. 1 rearranged to show a new configuration.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along one of the fingers of a glove made in accordance with the current disclosure. FIG. 3 shows examples of various forms of attachment between the padding and the dorsal side of the glove.

FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view of a glove made in accordance with the current disclosure. FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the padding and the glove as the glove flexes.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 4. FIG. 5 shows an example of the independent movement of the padding when struck by a force.

FIG. 6 shows a bottom perspective view of a padding section made in accordance with the current disclosure, wherein the attachment section only comprises part of the width and part of the length of the padding section.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of padding made in accordance with the current disclosure. FIG. 7 shows a base attached to the padding wherein the base includes a removable attachment.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the padding section shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the padding shown in FIGS. 7-8.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the padding shown in FIGS. 7-9.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the padding showing the padding encasing.

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of padding made in accordance with the current disclosure. FIG. 12 shows a base attaching multiple padding sections to the glove.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring generally now to FIGS. 1-12, a sports glove made in accordance with the current disclosure is shown and generally designated by the numeral 10. The sports glove 10 can be used to protect the hand (not shown) of a participant of a contact sporting event, such as lacrosse, hockey, and the like. The sports glove 10 comprises a palm side 12, a dorsal side 14 positioned opposite the palm side 12, and a plurality of protection sections 16 positioned on the dorsal side 14. Each protection section 16 includes a length 18 and a width 20. In a preferred embodiment each protection section 16 is partially attached to the dorsal side 14 wherein less than half the width 20 and less than half the length 18 are attached to the dorsal side 14.

Alternately the amount of attachment of the partially attached protection sections 16 to the dorsal side 14 can vary in order to facilitate the flexibility and level of protection of the hand of a user of the sports glove 10. For example, between 25%-75% of the length 18 of the protection section 16 can be attached to the dorsal side 14 and between 25%-75% of the width 20 can be attached to the dorsal side 14. Alternately, between 35%-50% of the length 18 and between 35%-50% of the width 20 can be attached to the dorsal side 14. In a most preferred embodiment between 25%-50% of the length 18 and 25%-50% of the protection section 16 can be attached to the dorsal side 14 to secure the protection section 16 to the dorsal side 14. Alternately described, at least 25% of each partially attached protection section 16 is not attached, or is separated from, the dorsal side (14).

In an alternate embodiment each partially attached protection section 16 further includes a base 22 wherein the base 22 includes a partial attachment 24 of the protection section 16 to the dorsal side 14. In yet another alternate embodiment each partially attached protection section 16 includes a casing 26, wherein the casing 26 includes the partial attachment 24 of the protection section 16 to the dorsal side 14.

Use of the sports glove 10 by a wearer partially separates the partially attached protection sections 16 from the dorsal side 14. This is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown, each partially attached protection section 16 can deflect independently of the adjacent partially attached protection section 16. Also, the partial attachment of each protection section 16 to the dorsal side 14 permits a substantial deflection of each protection section 16 with respect to the dorsal side 14. This deflection allows absorption of an energy force 28, which can be described as a blow to the hand of the user. This absorption by deflection facilitates protection of the hand of a user of a glove 10 while maintaining flexibility in the glove 10.

The glove 10 includes a finger end 30, including all of the fingers 31, and a cuff end 32, including the cuff 33. Each protection section 16 includes an attachment side 34 and a separated side 36 wherein the attachment side 34 is positioned substantially between the separated side 36 and the finger end 30 of the glove 10. This positioning facilitates the movement of the padding and flexibility of the padding of the glove 10 during use of the glove 10 by a wearer, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The partially attached protection sections 16 can be removably secured or permanently fixed to the dorsal side 14. When removably secured each protection section 16 can be attached to the dorsal side 14 through such items such as hooks and loops, zippers, adhesives, snaps, and other fasteners known in the art. When permanently fixed to the dorsal side, the partially attached protection section 16 can be permanently adhered, sewn, or be permanently affixed by other fasteners known in the art.

Alternately, the sports glove 10 includes a plurality of interchangeable protection sections 16 positioned on the dorsal side 15. The interchangeable protection section 16 includes a removable attachment 38 engaging the interchangeable protection section 16 to the dorsal side 14. This removable attachment can include hooks and loops, zippers, snaps, and other fasteners known in the art.

Each interchangeable protection section 16 includes a length 18 and a width 20. In a preferred embodiment less than half of the length 18 and width 20 is attached to the dorsal side 14. In an alternate embodiment a majority of the length 18 and width 20 is attached to the dorsal side 14. In another alternate embodiment the interchangeable protection section 16 include a base 22 wherein the base 22 is removably secured to the dorsal side 14. This base 22 can also be partially attached to the dorsal side 14 to further facilitate flexibility and protection of the hand of the user of the sports glove 10. In an alternate embodiment, the base 22 base supports multiple interchangeable protection sections 16 and attaches the multiple interchangeable protection sections 16 to the dorsal side 14. This is best illustrated in FIG. 12.

A user of the sports glove 10 can selectively remove each interchangeable protection section 16 and rearrange each interchangeable protection section 16 as best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The interchangeable nature of the interchangeable protection section 16 facilitates color coordination and design configuration of the external padding and look of the sports glove 10.

Alternately described a first interchangeable protection section 40 includes a first position 44 and a second position 46 while a second interchangeable protection section 42 includes a first position 48 and a second position 50. The first and second interchangeable protection sections 40 and 42 can be positioned in any one of the first and second positions 44, 46, 48 and 50. As such the first and second interchangeable padding sections 40 and 42 are rearrangeable on the dorsal side 14 of the sports glove 10 in multiple positions as desired by a user of the sports glove 10. As such each interchangeable protection section 16 includes the removable attachment 38, which can also be described as a removable securement 38 attaching that protection section 16 to the dorsal side 14 independent of the attachment of any adjacent protection section 16.

Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful Glove With Interchangeable Padding, it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A sports glove comprising: a palm side; a dorsal side positioned opposite the palm side; a plurality of interchangeable protection sections positioned on the dorsal side.
 2. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section includes a removable attachment engaging the interchangeable protection section to the dorsal side.
 3. The sports glove of claim 2, wherein the removable attachment comprises hooks and loops.
 4. The sports glove of claim 2, wherein the removable attachment comprises at least one zipper.
 5. The sports glove of claim 2, wherein the removable attachment comprises adhesives.
 6. The sports glove of claim 2, wherein the removable attachment comprises snaps.
 7. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section includes a width and a length, wherein less than half the width is attached to the dorsal side and less than half the length is attached to the dorsal side.
 8. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section includes a width and a length, wherein a majority of the width is attached to the dorsal side and a majority of the length is attached to the dorsal side.
 9. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section includes a width and a length, wherein substantially all of the width is attached to the dorsal side and substantially all of the length is attached to the dorsal side.
 10. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section further includes a base, wherein the base is attached to the dorsal side.
 11. The sports glove of claim 10, wherein the base supports multiple interchangeable protection sections and attaches the multiple interchangeable protection sections to the dorsal side.
 12. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section further includes a base, wherein the base is partially attached to the dorsal side.
 13. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein a wearer of the sports glove can selectively remove each interchangeable protection section.
 14. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein: a first interchangeable protection section includes a first position and a second position on the dorsal side; a second interchangeable protection section includes a first position and a second position on the dorsal side; and the first and second interchangeable protection sections can be positioned in either first position.
 15. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section includes a removable securement attaching the interchangeable protection section to the dorsal side independent of the adjacent interchangeable protection section.
 16. The sports glove of claim 1, wherein each interchangeable protection section is partially attached to the dorsal side.
 17. A sports glove comprising: a palm side; a dorsal side positioned opposite the palm side; a plurality of interchangeable protection sections positioned on the dorsal side; wherein a wearer of the sports glove can selectively remove each interchangeable protection section; and wherein each interchangeable protection section includes a removable securement attaching the interchangeable protection section to the dorsal side independent of the adjacent interchangeable protection section. 